Advocates Demand Immediate Release and Return of Long-Time Atlanta Resident Samson Birhane
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24 2026
CONTACT
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta - media@advancingjustice-atlanta.org
Decatur, GA - Family and friends of Samson Birhane, joined by community members, advocates, and partner organizations, gathered Wednesday in Decatur to demand urgent action for long-time Atlanta resident Samson Birhane, who was deported by the United States to Equatorial Guinea, where he is now imprisoned and has reportedly been beaten and tortured.
Samson came to the United States with his family as a refugee from Eritrea when he was 13 years old. He has lived in the United States for more than three decades, and the Atlanta area for 16 years. For 27 years, he regularly checked in with the U.S. immigration authorities before being detained during a routine check-in in March.
On June 18, Samson was deported to Equatorial Guinea, a country where he has never lived and has no ties. He has been held in detention alongside other people deported from the United States under a U.S. agreement to send certain people to third countries when the U.S. cannot deport them to their countries of origin because of safety concerns and protections against removal.
On September 11, Samson was beaten by Equatorial Guinean authorities after speaking out about the conditions at the detention facility, according to recent reporting. He was then taken to a notorious Equatorial Guinean jail, where he has reportedly been held incommunicado since then.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta stands in solidarity with Samson, his family and our partners, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Eritrean Community Association of Georgia, Progress Georgia, and 50501 Georgia, in calling for his immediate release and safe return to the United States.
“It is abhorrent what the United States government is doing to people—deporting them to countries they’ve never been to only for them to be detained and tortured upon their arrival, all under the guise of public safety.” Samantha C. Hamilton, Senior Staff Attorney at Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said, “We demand that the Trump administration put an end to this barbaric practice of third-country deportations and stop this attack on working people.”
Advancing Justice-Atlanta is also calling on the U.S. government to immediately stop deporting people to third countries where they have no ties and no connections. The U.S. government must stop this practice, protect people from being sent into danger, and ensure that those already deported, including Samson, are brought home safely.
Watch the September 23 Press Conference: https://www.facebook.com/AdvancingJusticeAtlanta/videos/1406921987474016
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast.
